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Republicans start literally deleting their health care promises

It's a creative approach to honesty. First, make a promise. Second, break the promise. Third, hide the fact that you made the promise in the first place.
Image: House GOP Pulls Vote On Trump's American Health Care Act
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) (L) arrives to a private meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill, March 24, 2017 in...
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) declared with glee the other day that last week's vote on the GOP health care plan is an example of "us keeping our promises." That's only partially true.The good news for Ryan is that he and his fellow Republicans did promise to pass a regressive health care bill, and now they've done exactly that. Whether you believe that's a positive development is based in part on whether you might ever need an affordable visit to a doctor.But when it comes to keeping promises, the Speaker and his GOP brethren have found themselves in an awkward spot. Ryan, Donald Trump, and other prominent Republican officials made all kinds of specific guarantees tied to their health care legislation, and they proceeded to break many of those commitments without explanation last week.Indeed, in the Speaker's case, some of those promises were put in writing. Remember this online Q&A published on the House Republican leadership's website?

Are you repealing patient protections, including for people with pre-existing conditions?No. Americans should never be denied coverage or charged more because of a pre-existing condition. […]Won't millions of Americans lose their health insurance because of your plan?No. We are working to give all Americans peace of mind about their health care.

The day after 217 House Republicans voted for their party's health care plan, the website was changed -- and these promises, which Republicans broke, were replaced with new text.In other words, instead of keeping their promises, Ryan and the House GOP leadership quietly -- and literally -- deleted some of their promises.It's a creative approach to honesty, isn't it? First, make a promise. Second, break the promise. Third, hide the fact that you made the promise in the first place.Indeed, it's not just Congress. Eighteen months ago, Donald Trump's campaign published an online statement demanding a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the United States, and it stayed there until yesterday, when the text was quietly removed.Yesterday also happened to be the day the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Trump's proposed Muslim ban.